Losing Weight —

tacocaTEclectus

Active member
Mar 22, 2022
54
162
Parrots
tacocaT the Eclectus hatched 9/16/22
It’s been a while since I’ve been active here but tacacaT is steadily losing weight. He’s roughly 9 months old.

****HE HAS AN AVIAN VET APPOINTMENT SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW MORNING****

But while I’m waiting for that: He came to me at 312g back in March. He got up to 325g April/May (he’s a juvenile Solomon so that’s his high end) and he was 300g this morning. What are common causes for an eclectus to lose weight?

He’s on a home made chop as his primary food with natural pellets as his over night snack. He’s fed roughly 100-120g of food broken up into 2 meals and never finishes it. He takes baths 3x per week and on bath days he gets out on the screened porch in Florida for sunlight and warmth. His feathers look pretty good but he’s moulting. He’s out of his cage 3-5 hours per day but has constant access to food. He’s not around any other birds and I haven’t had any contact with other birds so I can’t imagine he caught a virus somehow. His eyes look fine, nares are clean, droppings look normal, he’s moving around his cage like normal. He doesn’t display any regurgitation or mating/hormonal behaviors. He’s got free access to some type of food 24/7.

His current chop is:
Brown rice
Tri color quinoa
Chia seeds
Flax seed
Oats
Butternut squash
Red chiles (seeds included)
Red/green/yellow bell peppers
Turnip greens
Apple (not very much of this)
Black eyed peas
Corn
Peas
Green beans
Lima beans (succotash mix)
Carrots
Crushed red pepper flakes
Dried Lavender blossoms

Each day he gets a piece of fruit added as well. Apple, berries, papaya, melon… just a small amount fresh.

We do tons of target training so he gets almonds (broken tiny), coconut flakes, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts as treats.

I know this is long, I’m sorry, just trying to organize my thoughts before the vet appointment so I don’t miss anything. What do you guys think?
 

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SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
I do not like it when a young Parrot is losing weight when they are still growing, when they should be adding weight with more muscle and overall growth.

May need to look at adding a bit more protein into his diet. As you know that can be problematic with this species, but it should be a discussion point with his Vet tomorrow. Look at a full spectrum blood test to define where he is.
 
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tacocaTEclectus

tacocaTEclectus

Active member
Mar 22, 2022
54
162
Parrots
tacocaT the Eclectus hatched 9/16/22
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I do not like it when a young Parrot is losing weight when they are still growing, when they should be adding weight with more muscle and overall growth.

May need to look at adding a bit more protein into his diet. As you know that can be problematic with this species, but it should be a discussion point with his Vet tomorrow. Look at a full spectrum blood test to define where he is.
It was a slightly contentious visit. So he went to the vet 3 months ago and he’s gained weight since (like 12 g) since that last visit but he’s lost 9 g in the last 3 weeks or so which gave a net gain of 3 g or so. I showed the vet what we feed and she recommended MORE pellets to balance out his diet. Kinda rubbed me the wrong way. She said my chop was perfect but let him eat more pellets. Okay, whatever. She didn’t want to do any blood work or cultures and after some heated discussions I convinced her to do a crop swab, fecal test, and blood panel. In the mean time I’ll be looking for a new vet. She said he was a little on the thin side but his keel was nicely muscled and not overly protruding. So all in all no news is good news I think.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
We have had visits like that over the years and standing one's ground, especially when your effort is to better understand what the current health status of your Parrot always wins.

It is such a constant effort to find that center point between how many pellets are OK and that point where other problems set in, like claw stomping.

With tests in hand, look for variations that would help define what you need to add.

FYI: Since variations in body size drives weight; measure and compare.
 

kme3388

Well-known member
Sep 17, 2021
1,059
3,248
Minnesota, USA
Parrots
Eclectus Parrot: Nico (male)
Jenday Conure: Kiwi (female)
I am sorry to hear about your baby Ekkie losing weight. I hope you are able to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Did the vet say why they didn't want to do any labs, or swabs?
 

HeatherG

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2020
3,893
6,966
I don’t know much about Eclectus parrots but I know they have special dietary needs. If you don’t think more pellets are a good idea, would more high carb veggies like corn, beans, peas be a good idea? What about adding some brown rice or certain seeds to his diet? They might be easier to digest than pellets and are a simple plant food.
 

Sparky123

New member
Oct 28, 2018
4
6
It’s been a while since I’ve been active here but tacacaT is steadily losing weight. He’s roughly 9 months old.

****HE HAS AN AVIAN VET APPOINTMENT SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW MORNING****

But while I’m waiting for that: He came to me at 312g back in March. He got up to 325g April/May (he’s a juvenile Solomon so that’s his high end) and he was 300g this morning. What are common causes for an eclectus to lose weight?

He’s on a home made chop as his primary food with natural pellets as his over night snack. He’s fed roughly 100-120g of food broken up into 2 meals and never finishes it. He takes baths 3x per week and on bath days he gets out on the screened porch in Florida for sunlight and warmth. His feathers look pretty good but he’s moulting. He’s out of his cage 3-5 hours per day but has constant access to food. He’s not around any other birds and I haven’t had any contact with other birds so I can’t imagine he caught a virus somehow. His eyes look fine, nares are clean, droppings look normal, he’s moving around his cage like normal. He doesn’t display any regurgitation or mating/hormonal behaviors. He’s got free access to some type of food 24/7.

His current chop is:
Brown rice
Tri color quinoa
Chia seeds
Flax seed
Oats
Butternut squash
Red chiles (seeds included)
Red/green/yellow bell peppers
Turnip greens
Apple (not very much of this)
Black eyed peas
Corn
Peas
Green beans
Lima beans (succotash mix)
Carrots
Crushed red pepper flakes
Dried Lavender blossoms

Each day he gets a piece of fruit added as well. Apple, berries, papaya, melon… just a small amount fresh.

We do tons of target training so he gets almonds (broken tiny), coconut flakes, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts as treats.

I know this is long, I’m sorry, just trying to organize my thoughts before the vet appointment so I don’t miss anything. What do you guys think?
Awe he’s so young and gorgeous,
is there any Main food he likes?
i have to give my parrot a tiny bit of a digestive biscuit if he catches me eating one,
or he starts to shout at me, just a small amount, i would think on those lines , just maybe a healthy crunchy nut biscuit, awe he will be better soon, xxx
 

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